M54 Shrewsbury extension plans gearing up « Shropshire Star Comments The Highways Agency has opened up talks to look at the costs of turning the dual carriageway into an extension of the M54. Government minister Robert Goodwill today confirmed the agency has almost completed work to look at how expensive the reclassification of the road would be. It comes after he met with Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, who is among those to have campaigned to reclassify the route. Business leaders say it is important to the profile of Shropshire that its county town is linked to Britain's motorway network. It, and a direct rail link between the county and London, are seen as essential to improving Shropshire's transport links. Will extending the M54 to Shrewsbury bring economic benefits? Vote in our poll and have your say in the comment box below. Mr Goodwill said the extension of the M54 is now on the agenda, with the study on costs almost complete. But the junior transport minister added: "Identifying and evaluating the resulting benefits is proving more problematic.

Further assessment will be necessary before a robust cost-benefit analysis can be completed." Tony Bywater, whose caravan dealership Salop Leisure is at Emstrey, around two miles from where the motorway would end at Preston Boats roundabout, said the move would be straightforward because of the quality of the road, despite its lack of a hard shoulder. “It has always been my wish to see the M54 extended to Shrewsbury to put the town on the UK motorway network map,” said Mr Bywater. “All that is needed is a change of designation of the existing road. “It would be of great benefit to Shrewsbury’s businesses to say that the town is connected to the national motorway network. "Major roadworks are currently planned at roundabouts on Shrewsbury bypass to improve traffic flow and I think the M54 extension should be implemented at the same time.” Currently the dual carriageway continues to Shrewsbury when the M54 ends at junction seven at Wellington, at which point the road becomes the A5. The road surface and speed limits are the same as the motorway section, and Mr Bywater believes the road is effectively motorway-standard all the way to the Shrewsbury bypass.

Mr Kawczynski added: “Having the national motorway network lead right up to Shrewsbury would encourage more firms to move to the area, creating jobs and growth. "I wholeheartedly support the idea and have been making representations to Ministers regarding the change.” Motorway upgrade will drive home message town is 10 miles down road: Turning the A5 into the M54 really matters. Business Editor Thom Kennedy explains why Shrewsbury is not out on a limb. It is not some far-flung, remote corner of the UK. It is not hours away from the region’s manufacturing heartlands, and it is not accessible only by pony and trap. No, Shropshire’s county town is a national treasure, a holiday hotspot and a great place to live and work if you like to combine easy living with hard graft and entrepreneurial spirit. But to look at a map of the UK’s motorways, those asphalt arteries that draw blood around the economy, you might be fooled into thinking that Shrewsbury is near enough inaccessible unless you’re with a Sherpa. In reality, all that distinguishes the main road into town from the remainder of the country’s motorway network is the colour of its signs.

As soon as you pass Junction 7, where a red cross slashes through a motorway sign, you’re into the great outdoors. You’re off the grid. You’ve left behind the “proper” roads and are onto the dusty tracks. That sign might as well say “here be bandits” as “motorway ends”. There’s a psychological block standing in the way of business in Shropshire, the county’s detachment from the big-bucks budgets of the West Midlands economy made real by the dangling cord that is the M54. The change from the blue motorways to the green of the A-roads represents the county’s trade isolation. So to upgrade the motorway could be a fillip for bringing inward investment into the county, convincing overseas companies that we are open for business and we are easy to get to. A lot of work has gone into upgrading our transport infrastructure of late, from the exhaustive campaign to restore a direct rail link to London through to the increasingly loud calls for a better route between the M54 and the M6 and M6 Toll. This week, we heard about the latest investment programme going into roads in Telford and Shrewsbury through the Government’s Growth Deals programme.

On our own doorstep, work is being done to ensure that we have it in our power to welcome businesses. But part of that process is to convince them that arriving in the heart of the county takes little more than 10 miles’ drive down a dual carriageway. Condover - Wikishire Condover St Mary & St Andrew, Condover Location Condover parish council Condover is a village in Shropshire , about five miles south of the county town, Shrewsbury , and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the River Severn . Condover is near to the villages of Dorrington , Bayston Hill and Berrington . Condover contains a higher than normal proportion of Listed buildings and over half of the village has been classified as a conservation area since 1976. [1] The more than forty listed structures in Condover range from six separate early cruck-framed buildings and many black-and-white timbered cottages to the present-day Vicarage and several funerary monuments in the churchyard.

Of the early half-timbered houses, the most impressive are Church House, the Old School House and the Small House that is now known as Condover Court. The parish contains two industrial estates, two sand and gravel quarries and a projected borough recycling plant is currently planned and under discussion. Villagers and the Parish Council are agreed that there should be no increase in the volume of heavy traffic in the Parish arising from the plant and would regret the detrimental effect to such village services as the post office, shops, primary school and other regular services. Contents History Mediæval beginnings In the Anglo-Saxon era between 613 and 1017 the village was the principal settlement in the Hundred of Condover, an administrative area that was large enough to sustain about 100 households. By the 11th century Condover was a royal manor of King Edward the Confessor . It formed a significant part of the great Royal forest known as The Long Forest that stretched almost the full length of South Shropshire.

The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Conendovre, and the Norman manor house is believed to have stood on the site now occupied by Church House, a short distance north west of the Church. It would also appear that there was a mill on the Cound Brook in the village which produced a good annual income. At the time of the Domesday census, Condover was held by Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who had been granted seven-eighths of Shropshire by his cousin the new King William I in 1071. The revenues of the manor were later forfeited by Robert de Bellême, Earl Roger's heir, and returned to Royal hands under Henry I. As with other royal manors, the affairs of Condover were managed by the local sheriff, whose duty it was to keep the King's forest and manor well stocked and maintained. In 1226, Henry III visited Shrewsbury to meet his brother-in-law, Prince Llewellyn ap Gruffydd of Wales.

Henry offered Condover to Llewellyn as a goodwill gesture, but sustained wars and skirmishes on the border throughout the 13th century ensured that stable tenure of Condover manor and Hundred did not settle for nearly 300 years. Later history Condover hall from the front driveway The Royal manor passed in and out of Crown's ownership until, in 1586, Elizabeth I finally made a charter grant of the Condover manor lands to Chief Justice Thomas Owen, a Member of Parliament and Recorder of Shrewsbury. Owen began the building of the current Condover Hall but died before its completion. The hall remained in the Owen family and its descendants for over 300 years. John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870–72 describes Condover: "CONDOVER, a village, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Salop. The village stands on an affluent of the river Severn, adjacent to the Shrewsbury and Hereford railway, 4½ miles S of Shrewsbury; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Shrewsbury.

The parish includes also the villages of Chatford and Dorrington. Acres, 7, 422. Real property, £14, 431. Pop., 1, 871. Houses, 376. The property is subdivided. Condover House is the seat of E. W. S. Owen, Esq.; and was built, about 1590, by Chief Justice Owen. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield . Value, £258.* Patron, R. Cholmondely, Esq. The church is chiefly Norman; contains monuments of the Owens, one of them by Roubiliac; and is good. The p. curacy of Dorrington is a separate benefice. Charities, £66. -The sub-district is in Atcham district; and contains fourteen parishes. Acres, 37, 057. Pop., 6, 063. Houses, 1, 157. -The hundred includes most of the sub-district; extends considerably beyond it; and is cut into the divisions of Condover and Cound.

Acres, 25, 630 and 19, 684. Pop. of the whole, 6, 551. Houses, 1, 261." Page 112 of Magna Carta Ancestry by Douglas Richardson and Kimball Everingham records that Anne Owen, daughter of Roger Owen esq and The Honourable Alice of Condover Hall, married Sir St John Booth of Dunham-Massey, Cheshire in 1662 and they had a son named Thomas in 1663. World War Two RAF Condover was opened in August 1942 and was used variously as a fighter, bomber and a training base during the Second World War, closing in June 1945. [2] Many of the original buildings including the control tower still stand although most of the three concrete runways have been removed. RAF Condover now forms a major part of Berriewood Farm and Condover Industrial Estate. Condover Hall was commandeered as the station's officers' mess during the station's operational years.

Between the latter years of the war and the autumn of 1947 Condover was the site of a Prisoner of War camp for German airmen, who were employed as farm labourers in the local area. The prisoners were housed in the former WAAF accommodation huts at RAF Condover. Several of the POWs settled permanently in the Shrewsbury area and married local women. Residential school The Elizabethan manor house in Condover, Condover Hall was sold to and operated by the RNIB as the residential Condover Hall School for the Blind until 2005. [3] Sold to the private Priory Educational Group, the hall later became home to Condover Horizon School for autistic children. The Priory Group closed the school and college in mid 2009 and the property was again offered for sale. In 2011 JCA Adventure bought the house, and it now hosts children's residential adventure holidays. Condover in the media The lanes, footpaths and woodlands around Condover and Bomere Pool featured in several of the mediæval detective novels about Brother Cadfael by novelist Ellis Peters.

In 1988 the BBC filmed a three part documentary about the RNIB residential school at Condover Hall and the children were filmed extensively in and around the village. Geography The village lies just four miles south of Shrewsbury and is separated from the county town by the main A5 trunk road. It has good road transport links with easy access to both the A49 and A5. This is a low-lying area, towards the southern end of the Shropshire-Severn plain. The gently undulating land in the vicinity is bisected by Cound Brook , an important local tributary of the River Severn , which rises in the Stretton Hills some seven miles to the south-west. Geology Condover stands in the lee of an outcropping spur, consisting of a Pre-Cambrian limestone and sandstone sedimentary rock extension of the Longmyndian range, intruding into the Shropshire-Severn plain with major appearances at Longden, Lyth Hill, Bayston Hill, and Sharpstone Hill. North of the River Severn it does not outcrop again until it appears east of Shrewsbury as Haughmond Hill.

There are still several active geological fault lines underlying the area and on 2 April 1990 Condover experienced an earthquake, measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale, that was centred on Bishop's Castle on the Montgomeryshire border. There are many small sand and gravel quarries located around the village, although the area is still very rural. It was in one of the many gravel bog sink holes near Bomere Pool that the bones of a woolly mammoth were discovered in 1986; one of the most complete mammoth skeletons ever to be found in Britain, and dated at 14,000 years old, later than the animals had been previously thought to survive in Europe. [4] Next to Bomere Pool is a secluded traditional forest of about 125 acres of woodland that once formed part of Bayston Hill and Condover royal forest. Parish church The parish church is Saints Andrew and Mary. It dates from the 12th century, built of finely grained local pink sandstone, quarried at Berriefield, with some recycled Roman stones, presumably brought from a local derelict farmhouse or villa.

The replacement nave dates from 1664 after the rebuilding of the crossing tower, which collapsed in 1660 also destroying the northern aisle. The three-stage western tower was added in 1678 but has a mediæval appearance. The chancel was rebuilt in 1868 by Lord of the Manor, Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover Hall who also added the northern family chapel. Sports Lyth Hill Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 4 bed character property - £795,000 A fine period house close to Shrewsbury with fabulous views, set in 7.75 acres. Location The White House stands in an elevated position high on Lyth Hill from where it commands spectacular views over Shropshire, whilst being conveniently close to the county town of Shrewsbury. Whilst standing in a quiet, semi-rural location, The White House is within 4.7 miles of Shrewsbury town centre (3 miles from Sainsbury’s at Meole Brace Retail Park) and has the benefit of easy access to the A5/ M54 for commuting to Telford, Birmingham and other Midland centres.

Shrewsbury is renowned for its excellent schools, both state and independent, its variety of shops, amenities and cultural venues, including the new Theatre Severn. Regional airports include Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The White House is a charming period country house set within 1¼ miles of Shrewsbury with some of the best views in the county. Every advantage has been taken to maximise the panoramic views over the Severn valley and on to the Wrekin, Caer Caradoc, the Lawley and the south Shropshire hills, with Condover Golf Club 10 minutes away. The White House is approached off Lyth Hill Road down a tree-lined avenue overlooking its own fields. The drive sweeps into a large parking area in front of the house. The White House offers extremely flexible accommodation from the formality of the large drawing room to the more informal nature of the sitting room and kitchen. The house offers great privacy yet convenience, and is set in beautifully maintained gardens and grounds. The White House is believed to have been built as a school around 1850, and is laid out on three levels.

Accommodation The entrance hall leads into the large elegant drawing room (about 28’ x 16’), with its large bay window taking advantage of the wonderful setting. In contrast is the more informal sitting room, again taking full advantage of the views, with the study off. On the ground floor is the kitchen/breakfast room, with the dining room off and the south-facing sun room overlooking the south Shropshire hills. Linked to the kitchen is a large utility room, which could easily be incorporated into the kitchen to provide a larger living kitchen. There is 1 principal bedroom suite, facing south, together with a further 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The property offers enormous scope, either in its existing layout or to extend to the south, taking full advantage of its position and setting. Gardens and grounds These are a fabulous attribute to The White House, and have clearly been well maintained and nurtured over the years. There is extensive greenhousing and 4 garages. The garden area extends to about 1.37 acres with a further 6.13 acres of paddocks.

Acreage: 7.75 Acres Directions From the M54, A5, proceed to the Dobbies roundabout. Take the A49 south (signed Leominster) for about 1 mile. Fork right (signed Lyth Hill), and proceed for about 1 mile. The entrance gate to The White House is on the left. See more properties like this: Shrewsbury - Wikishire Shrewsbury The Old Market Hall in the Square Location Council: Shropshire Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire . It stands on a hill in a bend of the River Severn in the midst of its county, a town of some 70,000 inhabitants, [1] if grown from its original historic heart and trespassing over that broad water. Shrewsbury is the second largest town in the county, after Telford . Shrewsbury is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered mediæval street plan. The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, [2] including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th century.

Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone castle fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively, by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. [3] Shrewsbury serves as a cultural and commercial centre for Shropshire and a large area of mid-Wales, with retail output alone worth over £299 million a year. [4] There are some light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park, located mainly on the outskirts. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town, as do five railway lines at Shrewsbury railway station. Contents 12 References Name of the town There is disagreement even locally about how the name of the town is to be pronounced; whether ˈʃroʊzbri or ˈʃruːzbri. The latter is traditional, the former becoming more frequent. Gerald of Wales said that Shropshire was the lost half of the Kingdom of Powys and Shrewsbury its capital, then known as Pengwern, menaing "the alder hill".

[5] The earliest name in English was Scrobbesburh (or in the dative Scrobbesbyrig), which means "scrub-land fort-town" or "shrubstown". [6] [7] This name was gradually corrupted in three directions: Scrobbesbyrig became "Shrewsbury", while its shire, Scrobbesbyrigscir became shorterned to 'Sciropscire' and thence Shropshire, while a corruption to Sloppesberie became "Salop", an alternative name for both the town and its county. In Welsh, the town's name is Amwythig, meaning "scrubland fort"; a translation of the Old English name. History Tudor architecture on Butcher Row Shrewsbury may have been a Dark Age capital of Powys, Pengwern, but in its current form it is believed to have been founded around the year 800. It flourished in the Middle Ages and retains significant mediæval heritage.

It was during the late Middle Ages (14th/15th Centuries) when the town was at its height of commercial importance, mainly due to the wool trade , a major industry at the time, with the rest of Britain and Europe, and the town could send its wares out along the River Severn and Watling Street. [8] Over the ages, the geographically important town has been the site of many civil conflicts, whetehr those between the English and the Welsh or those amongst the nobles. Shrewsbury was, it is said, the seat of the Kings of Powys for many years, but at an unrecorded date the Mercian English took possession of it and drove the Welsh frontier back to the hills. The town first appears named in a charter of 901, the reign of Edward the Elder. His son, King Athelstan, established a mint there in 925. After the Norman Conquest, Edric "The Wild" rose in rebellion against the Normans, allied with a local Welsh prince and besieged the town in 1069, until repelled by William the Conqueror.

Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, and built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl. The 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême was deposed in 1102 afer rebelling against Henry I. [5] Shrewsbury Castle In the Wars of the Roses in 1403, the Battle of Shrewsbury took place a few miles north of the town centre, at Battlefield ; it was fought between King Henry IV and Henry Hotspur Percy, with the King emerging victorious, [9] an event celebrated in William Shakespeare 's Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5. Ireland's Mansion, built in 1596 It is believed that Henry VIII intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city in the reform of the Church of England , but the citizens of the town declined the offer. The town is home to the Ditherington Flax Mill, the world's first iron-framed building, which is commonly regarded as "the grandfather of the skyscraper". Its importance was officially recognised in the 1950s, resulting in it becoming a Grade I listed building.

[10] [11] Shrewsbury in the Industrial Revolution was also located on the Shrewsbury Canal which linked it to the Shropshire Canal and wider canal network of Great Britain. [12] Nearby is the village of Wroxeter , 5 miles to the south-west, where the now ruined Roman city of Viroconium Cornoviorum lies. Viroconium was the fourth largest civitas capital in Roman Britain. As Caer Guricon it may have served as the early Dark Age capital of the Kingdom of Powys. [13] Wroxtere today is just a small village. About the town Pride Hill's eclectic architectural mixture The town was not bombed in Second World War and so many of its ancient buildings remain intact and there was little redevelopment during the 1960s and 1970s, which arguably destroyed the character of many historic towns in the United Kingdom. However, a large area of half timbered houses and businesses was destroyed to make way for the Raven Meadows multi-story car park, and other historic buildings were demolished to make way for the brutalist architectural style of the 1960s.

The town was saved from a new 'inner ring road' due to its challenging geography. [14] The town has two expanding business parks, the Shrewsbury Business Park and the Battlefield Enterprise Park. There are many residential developments currently under construction in the town to cater for the increasing numbers of people coming to live in the town to as far as Birmingham . Arms of the town The ancient arms of the Town Council, depicts three "loggerheads" (lions' faces), with the motto Floreat Salopia, a Latin phrase that can be translated to "may Shrewsbury flourish" or "may Shropshire flourish". [15] Churches Fish Street, the spire of St Alkmund's church and the tower of St Julian's church are visible House where John Wesley preached Shrewsbury Abbey is the most prominent church in the town. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery in 1083. [16] The Abbey was dissolved at the reformation but the church remains active within the Church of England.

Notable Churches in the town include: Eastern Orthodox: Orthodox Church Roman Catholic: Shrewsbury Cathedral Many community projects in Shrewsbury are based in, or have been started by local churches, including the Isaiah 58 project, which is the primary work amongst homeless people in the town. [17] Basics Bank is another example, based at The Barnabas Centre, which provides debt relief for local people. [18] Churches Together in Shrewsbury is seeking to continue its long term commitment to helping homeless people through The Ark project. [19] One of the houses in Fish Street, facing St Alkmond's Church, is noted as being the location of John Wesley's first preaching in Shrewsbury, on 16 March 1761. Sights of Shrewsbury The historic town centre still retains its mediæval street pattern and many narrow streets and passages. Some of the passages, especially those which pass through buildings from one street to the next, are called "shuts" ( the word deriving from "to shoot through" from one street to another).

[20] [21] Many specialist shops, traditional pubs and local restaurants can be found in the hidden corners, squares and lanes of Shrewsbury. Many of the street names have also remained unchanged in centuries and there are some more unusual names, such as Butcher Row, Longden Coleham, Dogpole, Mardol, Frankwell, Roushill, Grope Lane, Gullet Passage, Murivance, The Dana, Portobello, Bear Steps, Shoplatch and Bellstone. [22] The Public Library, in the pre-1882 Shrewsbury School building, [23] stands on Castle Hill. Above the main entrance are two statues bearing the inscriptions "Philomathes" and "Polumathes". These portray the virtues "Lover of learning" and "Much learning" to convey the lesson that it is good to gain knowledge through a love of learning. The Dingle, once a quarry In the centre of the town lies The Quarry. This 29 acre riverside park attracts thousands of people throughout the year and is enjoyed as a place of recreation.

The Dingle, as it is known was a quarry transformed into a scenic garden in the Victorian era. Shrewsbury is known as the "Town of Flowers" and this was the motto was formerly printed onto many of the signs on entrance to the town by way of major roads. Lord Hill's Column in the town the largest free-standing Doric column in the world. [24] The Army The Light Infantry has been associated with Shrewsbury since the 17th century when the first regiments were formed and many more regiments have been raised at Shrewsbury before being deployed all over the world from the American Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, after several major reorganisations, the Light Infantry Brigade now forms part of the regiment known simply as The Rifles. Shrewsbury's Copthorne Barracks, spiritual home of the Light Brigade, still houses the Headquarters of the British Army's 5th Division.

[25] Between 1962 and 1992 there was a hardened nuclear bunker, built for No 16 Group Royal Observer Corps Shrewsbury, who provided the field force of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation and would have sounded the "four minute warning" alarm in the event of war and warned the population of Shrewsbury in the event of approaching radioactive fallout. [26] The building was manned by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis and wore a Royal Air Force style uniform. After the breakup of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker still stands just inside Holywell Street near the Abbey as a lasting reminder of the cold war, but is now converted and used as a veterinary practice. Culture Events and venues Shrewsbury is home to one of the largest and oldest horticultural events in the United Kingdom: the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show.

[27] A two-day event, the Flower Show takes place in mid-August, has been running for more than 125 years, and attracts around 100,000 visitors each year. Set in the Quarry park, there are a multitude of events, exhibitions and displays, with a fireworks display at the end of each day. The town is well known for its flower displays, and has won numerous awards in recent years. [28] The Theatre Severn The Music Hall was formerly the town's theatre the building is currently being converted into its museum and gallery. Shrewsbury is also home to one of the region's main agricultural shows - the West Mid Show. This is held every year, usually in May, at the Shropshire Agricultural Showground on the outskirts of town at Coton Hill . [29] The town hosts the Shrewsbury International Music Festival, when musical groups from all over the world come to perform for about a week for local residents, and give a final concert in the Abbey. The festival is organised by WorldStage Tours.

[30] 2006 saw the first Shrewsbury Folk Festival, after the event moved to the town from nearby Bridgnorth . Held annually over the August bank holiday, the event is very popular, with people travelling from across Britain to attend. In 2006 much of the event was held in the Quarry, with other related festivities happening around the town. For 2007 the event moved to the West Midlands Showground on the other side of the river. [31] A new annual arts festival - the Shrewsbury Summer Season - was established in 2004 and runs each year from June to August with an extensive programme of music, visual arts, theatre and spectacle. [32] There are some very old public houses, which have been continuously open as pubs, such as the Golden Cross, the Dun Cow and the King's Head. The Golden Cross is reputed to be the oldest licensed Public House in Shrewsbury and records show that it was used as an inn as far back as 1428. Its original name was the Sextry, because it was originally the sacristy of Old St. Chad's Church.

[33] Construction of Theatre Severn, [34] a new entertainment complex in Frankwell, was commissioned in September 2006. Actual construction began on the site in April 2007. The design features a prominent glass curve and steel frame. The site is positioned next to the Guildhall, alongside the namesake River Severn. [35] The new complex replaced the old theatre, the Shrewsbury Music Hall. The Music Hall is currently being refurbished, to take on the role of Rowley's House Museum, which will soon be closed for renovation for the foreseeable future. Cultural references Shrewsbury Abbey The town appears in the Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters (pen name of Edith Pargeter). The novels take Shrewsbury Abbey for their setting, with Shrewsbury and other places in Shropshire portrayed regularly, and have made Mediæval Shrewsbury familiar to a wide worldwide readership. [36] The local author, Carol Ewels has written two children's books, including Jack the Cat, which are set in the town.

Also, the children's author Pauline Fisk writes about a town called Pengwern, which is based entirely on Shrewsbury, in books including Midnight Blue, and Sabrina Fludde. Frank Cottrell Boyce, another children's author, writes briefly about Shrewsbury in his book Millions. Media The Severn New media: shropshirelive.com, [39] is based in Shrewsbury with local residents encouraged to get involved with the web site by becoming citizen journalists and contributors. Bridges The Kingsland Bridge, the town's only toll bridge, connects Kingsland with the Town Walls area. The town has nine bridges which cross the River Severn and many that cross the Rea Brook . Working downstream (anti-clockwise around the town): Frankwell footbridge is a modern pedestrian footbridge between Frankwell and the town centre spanning the River Severn. The Welsh Bridge was built in the 1790s to replace the ancient St George's Bridge The Porthill Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge running between The Quarry and Porthill, built in 1922. The Kingsland Bridge, a privately owned toll bridge.

The Greyfriars Bridge, a pedestrian bridge between Coleham and the town centre. The English Bridge, historically called "Stone Bridge", which was rebuilt in the 1930s. The railway station, which is partly built over the river. The Castle Walk Footbridge, another modern pedestrian footbridge. Telford Way, which has separate lanes for vehicles (A5112), bicycles and pedestrians. A E Housman wrote of the area this verse, which mentions the bridges of the town: [40] “ Out & About - Shrewsbury Flower Show Out & About 0 items in the shopping bag Unfortunately, your shopping bag is empty. Go to the shop Out & About Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England lying 9 miles (14 km) East of the Welsh border, with the River Severn flowing through its centre. It is home to some 102,234 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council. It is a historic market town with the town centre having a largely unaltered medieval street plan.

The town features over 660 historic listed buildings, including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th century. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone castle fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively, by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. The town hosts one of the oldest and largest horticultural events in the country, Shrewsbury Flower Show, and is known for its floral displays, having won various awards since the turn of the 21st century, including Britain in Bloom in 2006 and 2014. Today, Shrewsbury serves as a cultural and commercial centre for the county and a large area of mid-Wales, with retail output alone worth over £299 million per year. There are some light industry and distribution centres, such as Battlefield Enterprise Park and Shrewsbury Business Park, which are located mainly on the outskirts. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town, as do five railway lines at Shrewsbury railway station.

To find out more about the town of Shrewsbury go to the Original Shrewsbury website Keep In Touch If you’d like to hear about future Shrewsbury Flower Show news and offers, please add your details here Name Conference Venues in Shropshire, Midlands - Event Planning by The Conference Guide Park House Conference Venues in Shropshire Somewhere between the Potteries and the Black Country is the county where the Industrial Revolution was born. The epicentre of this was Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge, where Abraham Darby's bridge inspires the name of the latter place. Since becoming a UNESCO Listed site in 1986, Ironbridge and surrounding area became popular with tourists. Key to this is the Blists Hill Open Air Museum, which reenacts a Victorian street scene. Owned by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, it also includes another nine sites. This includes the bridge itself with tollhouse, Coalport China Museum and the Broseley Pipeworks. Today, its proximity to the M54 motorway and the new town of Telford makes the ten attractions accessible from most parts of England and Wales.

Conference facilities and banqueting is also available; if you're looking for a totally different conference venue to the norm, facilities are available in the Glass Classroom and The Engine Shop. Blists Hill has potential for outdoor events, and you can change your money into pre-decimal currency. Close to Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale is the New Town of Telford. Very much a product of 1960s expansion, its modern centre is off the M54 motorway and has a number of conference venues. One example is the University of Wolverhampton's Telford campus. Another one is The International Centre, a purpose built facility with over 15,000 square metres of exhibition space. As well as commodious halls, it also has more intimate suites for smaller meetings. A few miles west is the older town of Shrewsbury, famed for its abbey, castle and public school. It is known for its medieval heritage and the town where Charles Darwin was born and raised. There is a number of half-timber framed buildings and regular market days. Its railway station is a gateway to the scenic Cambrian Coast and Heart of Wales railway lines.

South of Shrewsbury, either by rail or along the A49, is the small town of Church Stretton, which is famed for its mineral water. During the 18th Century, it developed into a spa town, and in late Victorian and Edwardian times, was nicknamed 'Little Switzerland', owing to the terrain. Gastrophiles would love Ludlow. It is known for its restaurants and at one point, was the only UK town to have three Michelin Starred restaurants. It has an annual food and drink festival, with the three day event having food and drink trails. Other than food, it is famed for its castle plus the Ludlow Assembly Rooms has live entertainment, cinema and art exhibitions. In the very north of Shropshire is a number of villages such as Wem and Prees. Small towns include Whitchurch and Market Drayton, both near the borders of Cheshire and Staffordshire respectively. Sporting venues include the Greenhaus Stadium, home to Shrewsbury Town, and The New Bucks Head, AFC Telford United's home (the latter with a hotel backing onto the main stand).

Horse racing takes place at Ludlow, which as well as being a National Hunt racecourse, hosts a number of exhibitions and corporate events. There is also a number of golf courses. By road, the A5, A49, A53 and M54 are among the county's trunk routes. By rail, regular services on the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury line serve the county town and Telford, with regular buses into Ironbridge from the latter. The county's north-south rail link is the Manchester Piccadilly - Cardiff Central service which calls at Shrewsbury, Craven Arms and Ludlow. For a conference venue destination with a difference, Shropshire is a wise choice. Even wiser if your delegates love food, industrial heritage or beautiful scenery. By Ashlea Dutton Accommodation Details - Shropshire Tourism Accommodation Details Description Prices Special Offers Ratings & Awards Facilities Directions Description Situated amongst farmland and adjoining Bomere Heath village cricket ground and yet only 4 miles from the beautiful historic town of Shrewsbury stands this former country railway station built in 1847, set in 2 acres of grounds.

PLEASE NOTE: Should your request be URGENT please telephone in the first instance. A TELEPHONE call to 01939 290905 will secure your booking MORE QUICKLY and you may be offered a BETTER RATE than booking via email. Relax in one of six luxury appointed bedrooms most with en-suite shower rooms finished with Victorian style decorated suites. Choose from King size, Quad, Triple, Double, Twin or Single rooms with tea/coffee making facilities Period furniture throughout the house. Each bedroom has feature antique beds. In one there is an 1840's mahogany half-tester king sized bed. Guest lounge with TV plus books of local interest, games and a games table. Full English Breakfast including fresh fruit salad, served on Minton bone china. Evening meals and/or packed lunched available if required. Special diets catered for. Spacious dining room, full central heating and ample parking space. Free Wifi available. Within easy reach of the following places of interest; 5 mins - Shrewsbury, Haughmond Abbey 15 mins - Wroxeter Roman City, Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Buildwas Abbey, Attingham Park National Trust, Hawkstone Park and Follies.

30 mins - Ellesmere Lakes, Long Mynd, Much Wenlock Abbey, Bridgnorth, Oswestry Hill Fort, Stokesay Castle, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre 45 mins - Ludlow Castle, Chester. Please note: Price of family suite may alter depending on number of occupants and age of children. Please enquire for best rate to suit your requirements. Children under 5 sleep for free. Please enquire for prices for children over 5 years old. The Old Station is closed for Winter during the months of November to February inclusive. Social Media Disclaimer The details displayed on this page are copyright protected to Shropshire Tourism and are correct at the time of publication. Shropshire Tourism would like to advise all visitors to check prices & opening times with the venue prior to traveling in case of changes that might have occured since the publication of this page. Whilst Shropshire Tourism endeavours to ensure that the information on this site is correct, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and Shropshire Tourism does not accept any liability for error or omission. The directions above are for planning purposes only and should be used alongside a general roadmap or satnav system.

Variables such as road/construction works, traffic, weather conditions etc may cause alterations to the route.

Question: Which county town stands at the confluence of the A5 and A49?
Answer: SHREWSBURY